HOW TO FIGHT DEBT COLLECTORS AND WIN!

Thank you for downloading this sample of How To Fight Debt Collectors And Win! Please feel free to forward this sample to your friends. If a friend forwarded it to you and you would like to know more about the book, click here. The sample includes our copyright information, the disclaimer, the table of contents, and part of Chapter Two. In this excerpt, you ll learn what to say when you call a collection agency. The only reason you should ever talk to one of these jerks is if you don t have their correct address, so a sample call is included. HOW TO FIGHT DEBT COLLECTORS AND WIN! MERL K. MILLER

COPYRIGHT 2013, MERL K. MILLER AND ASSOCIATES All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, electronic or mechanical, without the specific written permission of the publisher. However, a reviewer may quote up to 250 words without permission as long as the book is properly cited. Further, the reader, without permission, may copy sample letters and conversations for personal use. Contact information: Merl K. Miller and Associates, PO Box 209, Bellevue, OH 44811

TABLE OF CONTENTS DISCLAIMER 5 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 6 HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS BOOK 6 STICKY NOTES 7 SMILE 7 BACKGROUND 8 JERK DISPOSAL 9 LETTER FROM AN HONEST DEBT COLLECTOR 9 CHAPTER TWO WHO CALLS ME 13 CALLER ID 13 HOW TO FIND OUT WHO IS CALLING 13 MAKE THE CALL 14 Polite and Erudite 14 PO Box 15 Record 15 Block 15 Write A Script 15 Practice 17 Rewrite, If Necessary 17 When To Call 18 CHAPTER THREE GET YOUR HEAD SCREWED ON STRAIGHT 19 I AM A WORTHWHILE PERSON 19 LIMIT TELEVISION 20 THE LAW OF ATTRACTION 20 NEGATIVE EMOTIONS 21

CHAPTER FOUR LETTERS 22 MAKE MULTIPLE COPIES 22 WRITE A LETTER 22 SEND IT BY CERTIFIED MAIL RETURN RECEIPT AND GET A CERTIFICATE OF MAILING 23 BUY A CASHIER S CHECK 24 SAMPLE LETTERS STARTING WITH CEASE AND DESIST 25 FIRST CEASE AND DESIST LETTER 27 SECOND CEASE AND DESIST LETTER 30 DEBT SETTLEMENT 33 DEBT SETTLEMENT OFFER 34 DEBT SETTLEMENT REQUEST 36 DEBT SETTLEMENT PAYMENT 40 CHAPTER FIVE WHAT COLLECTION AGENCIES ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO AND SOME THINGS THEY CAN DO 42 SOME BIG NO-NOES THAT ARE USUALLY VIOLATED 42 THE LAWYERS GET INVOLVED 43 WHAT YOU SHOULD SAY IN YOUR ANSWER 44 How To Use This Information 46 YOUR DAY IN COURT 47 Lawyer? 47 CONCLUSION 50 INDEX 51

DISCLAIMER Nothing in this book should be considered legal advice. It is not. I am not a lawyer. The information in this book comes from my personal experience and the personal experiences of my financial clients. If you need legal advice, please contact a competent attorney. If you would like to have an attorney review anything I suggest in this book, please do so. I have never had an attorney involved in my personal financial matters but that doesn t mean you shouldn t. No attorney reviewed this book before publication. However, if an attorney reviews the published book and makes comments, I strongly urge you to read those comments. I certainly intend to read all comments. HERE IS THE LEGALESE The purpose of this book is education and entertainment. The views expressed are the author s alone. Concepts presented are suggestions, not instructions. It is the reader s responsibility to adhere to all state and/or federal laws that may apply to the subjects introduced in this book. Neither the author nor the publisher assume any responsibility or liability whatsoever on the behalf of the reader or the buyer of the book. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, electronic or mechanical, without the specific written permission of the publisher. However, a reviewer may quote up to 250 words without permission as long as the book is properly cited. Further, the reader, without permission, may copy sample letters and conversations for personal use. Both the author and the publisher have attempted to verify the information in this book. Neither the author nor the publisher is responsible for errors, omissions, or interpretations of the material presented that are different from what the author has written.

CHAPTER TWO WHO CALLS ME Never answer the phone unless you know who is calling and never call anyone back unless you know whom you are calling. CALLER ID You need to keep a record of who calls you and when they called. Create a spreadsheet file on your computer or get a notebook. Write down every date and time you receive a call. If someone calls you multiple times per day, make a note of every call every day. This is an easy way to prove harassment. You will get a lot of calls from crap numbers. Be sure to record them all. A crap number is a call from either a fake number or a blocked number. A fake number might be something like 00000 or 366. A blocked number is Unavailable or Restricted. Be sure you write all of these numbers down. You may need them later. If you use a landline and you do not have caller ID, get it. Cell phones automatically have caller ID so it is a little easier to figure out who is calling you. Depending on the type of cell phone you have, you may also be able to download an app that gives you the name of the caller. HOW TO FIND OUT WHO IS CALLING If you Google reverse phone lookup, you will get about 44 million results. Unfortunately, it is not very accurate. You have probably tried this already and you know how frustrating it is. You look up the number and you get a message saying there are no results. Then, they suggest that you try one of their sponsors who will charge you for looking up the number. For a fee of $2.00, they will give you a name but it might not be very helpful. Collection agencies list the phone numbers under multiple names. They change their names and add new ones regularly. For instance, NCO Financial is a large collection agency based in Pennsylvania with over 100 different locations. Here are some, but not all, of the names they use: NCO Financial Systems, Inc. NCO Customer Management, Inc. University Accounting Services, LLC. (UAS) Transworld Systems, Inc. (TSI)

Systems & Services Technologies (SST) APAC Customer Services Expert Global Solutions There is no easy solution to this problem. However, you should always start a reverse phone lookup with Who Calls Me at http://whocallsme.com/ Here is how they explain their service: This is a user supplied database of phone numbers of telemarketers, non-profit organizations, charities, political surveyors, SCAM artists, and other companies that don't leave messages, disconnect once you answer, and simply interrupt your day. If you received a strange call, unwanted SMS message, or just came across a number you don't recognize and want more information about, most likely you are not the only one. Search for this phone number to see the reports of others. If there are no reports yet, leave your comment to start a conversation. You may have noticed that they don t mention debt collectors (maybe they just include them in SCAM artists). However, when you go to the site, you will see that many of the phone numbers listed are debt collectors. If you want to check a phone number, all you have to do is type it in the search box at the top of the screen. It is a good idea to sign up for Who Calls Me; they will ask you for your email address and a password. Once you confirm your email address, you can create an online persona and post under that name. There are two reasons you want to have a Who Calls Me account. First, you can vent anonymously. Second, you can contribute. If you find out who is calling you, post it on Who Calls Me so someone else is aware of it. For instance, most people don t know that Expert Global Solutions is NCO Financial. This could help somebody. If you want to mention that you learned about NCO Financial in this book, please do so. MAKE THE CALL Unfortunately, you may need to talk to one of these jerks. If possible, the only contact you should ever have with a collection agency is by mail. They don t follow the rules so you may not have an address you can use to correspond with them. If this happens and you decide to call them to get the address, you need to be prepared. You need to learn to control the conversation by having a good script and telling the truth. Here are the things you need to do before you call. Polite and Erudite Right now, before you do anything else, write POLITE AND ERUDITE on a sticky note and post it on your wall next to where you are going to sit when you make the call. Look

up the definition of both words and start thinking about how you are going to be polite and erudite when you talk to stupid, know it all liars. PO Box If you do not have a post office box, get one. You want all of the mail from debt collectors to go to a post office box. Be sure to get the PO Box from the USPS. Do not get your PO Box from a mailbox store. You ll see why this is important when we get to Letters in Chapter Four. Record Many cell phones have the ability to record calls. If you don t have a cell phone that records, or if you have a landline, spend a little money on a cheap recording device. Do a little online research. For instance, WikiHow has a good article on recording. Block Both cell phones and landline phones have the ability to block your phone number on outgoing calls. Once you figure out how to block your number, call a friend, and see if it works. (Be sure to call your friend with the number unblocked and tell them you are going to do this.) It is easy to turn on and off, so be sure to turn it off when you are calling people you like. Be sure to block your number when you call collection agencies. Write A Script Write exactly what you are going to say and read it to them. Try to anticipate what they might say and then ignore what they say and stick with your script. The purpose of the call is to get their correct address so that you can send them certified letters. Here is what you might say: Hello, you called me. I am recording this call. You claim I owe you money. I will be writing the company a letter. I need the name of an officer of the company and the correct mailing address. Are you willing to provide this information? (Wait For Answer) Thank you. I am ready to write this information down now. Of course, that is not all of the conversation. They aren t going to follow the script. You need to have a script so that you stay on target. Here is an example showing how the conversation might go. They are PPP and you are YOU. PPP: Hello, PPP, we are the dog you are the hydrant.

YOU: Hello, you called me. I PPP: What is your name and phone number? YOU: I am recording this call. PPP: Okay. I need you phone number in case we are cut off. YOU: I am recording this call. You claim I owe you money. PPP: Well, I need your phone number before I can look up your account. YOU: You claim I owe you money. I will be writing the company a letter. I need the name of an officer of the company and the correct mailing address. Are you willing to provide this information? PPP: We have already sent you a letter. What is your phone number? YOU: I will be writing the company a letter. I need the name of an officer of the company and the correct mailing address. Are you willing to provide this information? PPP: We can send you another letter. What is your phone number? YOU: I will be writing the company a letter. I need the name of an officer of the company and the correct mailing address. Are you willing to provide this information? PPP: Our mailing address is PO Box 1369, Jerkwater, PA 19044. What is your phone number? YOU: Thank you. Are you willing to provide the name of an officer of the company? PPP: We don t give out that information. What is your phone number? YOU: Goodbye. Notice that even though you asked for the name of an officer of the company you didn t get it. It is not private information. You can Google the company and get the name of an officer. You need the correct address so that your letters go to the office that has your account. You have two primary purposes in making the call. First, you want to get the mailing address. Second, you want to show how reasonable you are and how unreasonable they are. It is extremely important that you stick to your script. The debt collector is going to stick to hers. Every time you say something, she says, What is your phone number? Your response is, I will be writing the company a letter. I need the name of an officer of the company and the correct mailing address. Are you willing to provide this information?

You could sound like a pair of parrots talking to each other. Give them the bird and be the winning parrot! You will see how to use this information when we get to Chapter Four. The first letter is a cease and desist letter. You tell them not to call you. I ll mention this again later but it is something to keep in mind. NEVER VOLUNTEER ANYTHING. DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR PHONE NUMBER. You will have to give them the phone number in the cease and desist letter because you need to tell them what number not to call. Do not give them any other numbers in your letter. For instance, I knew someone who told a collection agency not to call his landline and then included his cell phone even though the collection agency had never called that number. They immediately began calling his cell phone. Remember, these people are dishonest. If you give them a number, they will call it! If the collection ever goes to court, the cease and desist letter can prove harassment. Practice Read what you are going to say aloud several times before you call. Look in the mirror while you are reading it. This will help you get over nervousness. You want to control the conversation and you can t control the conversation if you are intimidated or nervous. This may seem a little silly but do it anyway. Write, I AM A GOOD PERSON on a sticky note and put it on the mirror. Read this both before and after you read your script. Rewrite, If Necessary Write and practice are salesman tricks I learned years ago. I found that the more I used these two techniques the more successful I was. By knowing what I was going to say and when I was going to say it, I could control the conversation. You must control the conversation to get what you want. Write, practice, and rewrite, if necessary. You ll know you need to rewrite your script if it just doesn t sound like you when you are reading it to the mirror. It is very important to run your script through a grammar checker and a spelling checker each time you rewrite it. Here s why. It is very hard to intimidate someone you think is smarter than you are. When you use an intelligent, practiced script with proper grammar, the person on the other end of the call hears an intelligent, educated person calling them. Therefore, you start out by intimidating them and isn t that what you want? The spelling checker is for your subconscious mind. If you are a terrible speller, your subconscious notices the misspellings and this eats into your self-confidence. You may think this is some kind of positive thinking silliness but I can assure you it is not. I used to be a terrible speller and I m still not very good. I am left-handed and analytical. Left-handed people tend to be a little bit dyslexic (whew, I m glad the spelling

checker caught that one.) I love spell checkers. I ve learned to memorize certain words by having the spell checker find them. When I read something with a misspelled word in it, it makes me feel uncomfortable even if I don t know which word is misspelled. This happens to you also. You just may not recognize what is causing the problem. Remember, you want to have your confidence at a high level when you call a collection agency. You want to take control of the conversation immediately and control it until you hang up. They use scripts put together by psychologists. They check the grammar and the spelling. They practice the scripts repeatedly. The only way to combat this is to do the same thing. You aren t a psychologist but you do have a strong advantage --- you are going to tell the truth! When To Call When you call is as important as what you say. You need to have your head screwed on straight. By this, I mean you need to feel good and even a little upbeat. Therefore, never call right after work no matter how much you love your job. You don t want to be tired. It is also a mistake to call before you go to work. This stuff messes with your head. You don t want to take a bad attitude to work. THANKS AGAIN Thank you for reading this short sample from How To Fight Debt Collectors And Win! If you would like to know more about it, please go to our website. Thanks, Merl